Filipinos Bianca Pagdanganan and Dottie Ardina stumbled on the first round of their “tuneup tournament” for the Paris Olympics Friday.
Ardina came through with an even-par 72 for joint 22nd, while Pagdanganan signed a 74 for joint 62nd at the start of the CPKC Women’s Open at the Earl Grey Golf Club in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
The $2.6-million LPGA tournament is virtually the last tourney before the golf tournament begins at Le Golf National in Paris, as 23 of the 60 Olympians are seeing action.
Ardina birdied Nos. 2 and 10 but gave up the edge on Nos. 4 and 11. The 30-year-old found the fairways 11 of 14 times and made greens in regulation 13-of-18.
On her first Olympic stint, Ardina will be bringing maturity to the country’s campaign. She averaged 245 yards in the round.
Pagdanganan, the 26-year-old big-hitter who donned the tricolors in Tokyo Games, didn’t disappoint in the power department. She averaged 296 yards on her drive.
But she only landed on the fairway eight out of 14 times, and made 13 of 18 greens in regulation.
Pagdanganan birdied the first and 15th holes, but stumbled with bogeys on Nos. 5, 7, 10 and 11.
American Lauren Coughlin topped the opening round with a four-under-par 68, holding a one-shot lead over a four-woman joint second-placers that include Olympic-bound Australians Minjee Lee and Hannah Green, Thai Ariya Jutanugarn and American Jennifer Kupcho.